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No. 751,074. PATENTED FEB. 2, 1904. W. HIGGINS W. G. EDMONDS. MACHINE ORAPPARATUS FOR AFFIXING LABELS TO BOTTLES, BOXES, OR OTHER ARTICLES.

APPLIGATION FILED DEC. 12, 1902. B0 MODEL. 5 SHEETS-11231 1.

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APPLICATION FILED DEC. 12, 1902. 1T0 MODEL. 1 5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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No. 751,074. PATENTED FEB. 2, 1904.

W. HIGGINS & W. G. EDMONDS. MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR AFFIXING LABELS TOBOTTLES BOXES, OR OTHER ARTICLES.

APPLICATION mun use 12, 1902 1 no MODEL. 5 sums-sum 4.

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BOXES, OR OTHER ARTICLES. APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 12, 1902. E0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES ratented February 2, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM HIGGINS, OF ROSCOMMON, AND WILLIAM GEORGE EDMONDS, OF

DUBLIN, IRELAND.

MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR AFFIXING LABELS TO BOTTLES, BOXES, OR OTHERARTICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.751,074=, dated February2, 1904.

Application filed December 12, 1902. Serial No. 134,945. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, IVILLIAu HIeeINs, re siding at Corbally, Donamon,P. O. Roscommon, in the county of Roscommon, and VIL- LIAM GEORGEEDMONDS, residing at 9 Fownes street, in the city of Dublin, Ireland,subjects of the King of Great Britain, have invented a new and usefulMachine or Apparatus for Affixing Labels to Bottles, Boxes, or other Ar'ticles,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine or apparatus for affixing labels tobottles, boxes, and other articles, the object being to provide amachine by means of which labels can be affixed with greater facilitythan has heretofore been possible.

According to the invention we construct our machine of a support orstand, in connection with which is arranged a slide or support for thebottle or other device to be labeled, the said bottle-support beingadapted to move relatively with the main support or stand. WVithin thestand there is provided a table upon which is placed a pile of labelsnormally held in position thereon by suitable clips or the like andadapted to be pasted by a roller or the like. The labels are applied .bymoving the bottle-support and the table and ultimately comes intocontact therewith, means being provided for curving the label in thecase of a bottle or other curved article and for applying it closelyagainst the side thereof. I

To enable the inventionIto be fully understood. we will'describe' it byreference to the accompanying drawings, in which we have shown theinvention applied to a bottle-labeling machine.

v The bottle is gradually approached to the pile of labels In the saiddrawings, Figure 1 isa side ele vation of the machine arranged forlabeling bottles or other cylindrical articles. Fig. 2'

is a plan view thereof with the pasting ro'lle'r turned back. Fig. 3 isa longitudinal section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectionalview of a portion of Fig. 3, but showing the parts in the position inwhich the label is being applied. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of themachine, the section being taken on the line 5 5, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 isa'section on the line 6 6, Fig. 3; and Figs. 7, 8, and 9 arerespectively an end elevation, a vertical section,

and a plan view illustrating a modification of the machine.

Referring first to the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 to 6, a is the mainframe or support, and b is the slide, which is mounted outside the saidframe a and is adapted to be reciprocated up and down thereon in guides6 in the said support a. The slide 6 is also formed with guides b b forthe supports 6 6 which are formed at their upper ends with V-shapednotches 6* to take the'bottle A and can be adjustably secured in theslide 6 by means of the screwed studs 6 secured to them and passingthrough slots 5 in the slide 5 and of the thumb- -nuts 6 c 0 are weightsfor holding the frame 6 in its uppermost positionthat is to say, in

the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5the said weight being fixedupon the ends of levers 0 c,pivoted upon the transverse spindle 0mounted in the brackets c c on the frame a, the said levers having attheir free ends rollers c cfi'which bear against the under side of theslide 7). W'ith this arrangement it will be obvious that as the frame 5is pushed downward the weights care raised, and when the frame 6 isrelieved of pressure the weights will again descend, pushing up theframe I) to its initial position. .Within the support a there is mountedthe table or label-holder for receiving the pile of labels cZfthe saidtable being preferably made of a number of parts, hereshown as threeparts e e 6 this construction being adopted to enable the table to beexpanded and colformed with screw-threads at their two ends,

the central parts being provided with collars 6*, held between ribs 6 onthe part 6 of the table. The screw-threads e 6* are right-hand threadsand engage internally-screw-threaded holes in the part c of the table,while the screwthreads e e are left-handed and engageinternally-screw-threaded holes in the part c of the table. It willtherefore be clear that by rotating the pins 6 in the same directionsimultaneously the parts 6 and 6 can be separated from or approachedtoward the central part 6' of the table. To enable the pins 6 to besimultaneously turned, we provide upon a projecting part of each atoothed pinion e the said pinions gearing with a pinion e on a spindle 6mounted in a bracket 6 supported by the said projecting ends of thespindles 6 the said spindle'e having a knob or handle 6 by means ofwhich it can be turned, so as to simultaneously rotate the screw-pins ein the same direction. The central part a of the label-table is recessedat its upper part, the recessed portion containing three blocks f, f,and f, the central block f being rigidly secured to the top of the saidcentral part 6 of the table, but the other two blocks f and f beingloose therein and each having loosely passing through it a pair of rodsor pins f which extend downward through slots in the bottom of the tableand through slotted brackets f" f and are normally held in theiruppermost position that is to say, so as to project through the top ofthe table in which slots are made for the purpose by springs f 6 f whichare coiled around them and which bear at one end against the brackets fand at the other end against shoulders f 7 upon the said rods, the saidshoulders bearing against the brackets f to limit the upward movement ofthe rods f These rods f are designed to hold the labels in positionuponthe table, the said labels being placed in the space inclosed by theprojecting ends of the said rods, the length of rod projecting above theface of the table, when the labeltable is in its uppermost position, asshown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5, being always equal to the thickness orheight of the pile of labels upon the table. As the labels are depressedthe said pins rise above the top of the label pile and come into contactwith the bottle or the like being labeled, upon which they are forceddown by the springs f 6 and allow the label to be aflixed, ashereinafter described. To enable the space between the pins to beadjusted to take labels of different sizes, we mount the loose blocks fand f upon a rod 6, which is screw-threaded at its two ends with rightand left hand threads 9 and g respectively, the central portion of thescrew-threaded rod being plain and adapted to rotate in a hole providedin the central block f. To hold the rod 9 in position, it is provided atits center with a collar 9 which is held in a recess g in the saidcentral block f. With this arrangement it will be clear that by turningthe rod g g by means of the squared end g by means of a key insertedthrough the hole g formed in the side of the table for the purpose thetwo blocks f and f can be moved toward or away from one another, as maybe desired, so as to adjust the distance between the opposite pairs ofrods f and thus enable the table to take larger or smaller labels, thesaid rods traversing the slots in the top and bottom of the table and inthe brackets f f f 5 hereinbefore described.

The table 6 e e is normally held in its uppermost position by means ofthe bell-crank levers h h, mounted on the spindle 0 the ends of the longarms of the said levers being provided with rollers It it, which bearagainst the under side of the said table, while the other ends of thesaid levers are connected to springs 7L2, secured on the base of thesupport a.

i is the paste-trough, which is bolted to the support a and whichcontains the paste-roller t, the upper surface of which projects above apaste-distributing table 6 at the top of the said trough and whichroller is mounted upon pivots 6 supported in slot-bearings z" in thesides of the trough.

j is the pasting-roller, which is rotatably mounted in the free end of aframe y", the other end of which is pivoted to a swinging frame 7'pivoted to the support a at 7' The pasting-roller j is grooved, as shownat y", the grooves engaging ribs or rails 7c is upon the table '5 andalso ribs it" upon clips or holders, hereinafter described, for holdingthe labels on the table 6 6 6 the said ribs k being inclined downwardtoward the center of the table, as clearly shown, so that the roller asit advances is allowed first to slide upon the top of the table and thento run up onto the ribs k above the part 6 of the table, thus beingraised off the surface of the labels. The pasting-roller is normallyretained in this position by means of the slide 6, which is held in itsuppermost position by the weights 0 0, as hereinbefore described, thesaid slide I) being connected to the swinging frame by means of thelinks The position of the links 70 is such that when the slide Z) isdepressed by means of the bottle to be labeled the pasting-roller iswithdrawn onto the roller 2', so as to gather paste therefrom to pastethe next label on again returning to its normal position, as hereinafterdescribed. To enable the roller z" each time to present a new surface tothe pasting-roller y', we provide one of its pivots d with aratchet-wheel i, with which engages a pawl Z, pivoted to one of thelevers 0, whereby as the said levers are operated when a bottle is beinglabeled the pawl is drawn downwa rd, so as to move the ratchet-wheelthrough one tooth, the pawl being held in engagement with the ratchet bygravity.

Z Z Z are three gages which are screwed to the rear of the paste-troughand are designed to regulate the thickness of the paste which isretained upon the roller i. For pasting oval labels we prefer inpractice that the gages shall allow a thicker film of paste to adhere tothe center of the roller than to the sides thereof, as the ends of thepasting-roller 1' do not require as much space as the central portion.

Z represents lateral ribs or projections provided upon the table 71 toprevent the paste from escaping over the edges when squeezed outlaterally as it runs over the said top. Z is a discharge-cock forwithdrawing the paste from the trough i.

The labels are normally held in position upon the table by means ofclips or holders 4?. n, actuated as hereinafter described, the saidclips being pivoted on spindles n n, mounted in pillars of, which passthrough grooves in the parts 6 e of the table and are secured to theframe a against vertical movement by brackets n". To enable the saidpillars to move with the parts 6 e of the table when the said parts areadjusted relatively with the part 6, as hereinbefore described, saidpillars'are provided with grooves n with which ribs n on the bracketsengage, as shown clearly in Fig. 5.

The machine is employed as follows: The bottle A to belabeled is placedwithin the recess Z in the slide Z2 as above described, and is thendepressed until the portion thereof to which the label is to be affixedcomes into contact with the topmost label (Z, the pastingroller j havingbeen removed by the movement of the slide 5 in the manner explainedabove. WVhen the bottle comes into contact with the pile of labels (Z,the pressure causes the table a e e to yield, and when the upper surfaceof the said table has sunk to about the plane of the pivots of the clipsor holders n the lowermost label comes into contact with a number (inthe drawings two are shown) of transverse cords 0 '0, which pass beneathpins 0 a in the central part c of the table and over pulleys 0 looselymounted upon the pivots n 71, carrying the said clips, the ends of thesaid cords being attached to pins 12 p in cylinders q q, containingsprings exerting a downward pull upon the cords. The cylinders are fixedin the pillars 12 n carrying the pivots a 72.. The further depression ofthe table thereupon causes the labels to assume the curved form shown inFig. 4cthat is to say,

thisposition until the table a e 6 again rises when the label has beenapplied. When this occurs, the labels reassume their original flat form,and the upper edges of the tabel parts 6 6 come into contact with theclipsn and again raise them to their normal or looking position, holdingthem there until the table is again depressed.

To enable the label to be tightly applied against the bottle at theedges, we make use of arms r r,having rollers r r at their'outer ends,which said rollers are adapted to be pressed against the edges of thelabels, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. These arms 1 are pivoted at r toframes r carried by screws T, which are rotatably supported in thepillars a of, heads 8 8 being provided to rotate the screws, and thusenable the said frames r to be raised and lowered to adjust the devicefor labels of different sizes. These arms are normally caused to inclineinward and assume the position indicated in Fig. 3 by springs t, mountedin the frames r and bearing against the said arms. As the labels aredepressed in the position shown in Fig. 4, the arms are caused to yieldagainst the action of the springs which apply the rollers r with thenecessary force against the edges of the s'aidlabels. V

a is a plate carried in notches a in projections 24 on the slide 6 atone side of the machine, and serving as a stop or. gage, against whichthe bottom of the bottle to be labeled is placed, thus insuring thelabels all'being afliXed at the same height on the bottles.

Figs. 7 8, and 9 illustrate a modified construction of the machinewherein the label-table is made in one part 0 instead of in three parts,as hereinbefore described. In this case, therefore, the clips 12 n aremade adjustable, and to this end the pillars a ni upon which they aremounted, are located in vertical slots or grooves n n" in the table a.Sockets 1) Q) are provided at the top and bottom of the table, the saidsockets sliding in lateral guides 0) Q1 in the grooves n n", as clearlyshown, to permit of lateral adjustment of the clips. The lower ends ofthe pillars n are secured to blocks w w, moving in guides w in the mainframe a. To simultaneously adjust these two blocks in their guides, wemake use of the right and left handed screw in, which engagesscrew-threaded holes in the said blocks whereby when it is turned itmoves the blocks and thereby the clips n a" toward or away from oneanother.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declarethat what we claim is- 1. In apparatus for aflixing labels to bottles,boxes and other articles, the combination with a label-table, of a framefor carrying the article to be labeled, movable toward and from thelabel-table, in a path perpendicular to the said label-table, wherebythe article may be placed in engagement with said frame and moved withthe frame into engagement with the label, substantially as described.

2. In apparatus for aflixing labels to hottles, boxes and otherarticles, the combination with a label-table, of a frame for carryingthe article to be labeled, movable toward and from the label-table, in apath perpendicular to the said label-table, a label-pasting device andmechanism for moving said device across the label-table, substantiallyas described.

3. In apparatus for aflixing labels to bottles, boxes and otherarticles, the combination with a label-table, of a frame for carryingthe article to be labeled, movable toward and from the label-table, in apath perpendicular to said label-table, a label-pasting device,mechanism for moving said device across the labeltable and operativeconnections between said mechanism and said movable frame, substantiallyas described.

4. In apparatus for aflixing labels to hottles, boxes and otherarticles, the combination with a yielding label-table, of a frame forcarrying the article to be labeled, movable toward and from said tablein a path perpendicular to said label-table and flexible bands normallybelow the plane of the label-table for directly engaging the labels andforcing them to conform to the surface of the article to be labeled,substantially as described.

5. In apparatus for aflixing labels to hottles, boxes and otherarticles, the combination with a yielding label-table, of a frame forcarrying the articles to be labeled, movable toward and from said tablein a path perpendicular to the said label-table, flexible yielding bandsnormally below the plane of the labeltable for directly engaging thelabels and forcing them to conform to the surface of the article to belabeled, substantially as described.

6. In apparatus for aflixing labels to bottles, boxes and otherarticles, the combination with a yielding label-table, of a frame forcarrying the article to be labeled, movable'toward and from said table,flexible bands normally lying below the plane of the table for forcingthe labels to conform to the surface of the article to be labeled andsprings connected to said flexible bands, substantially as described.

7. In apparatus for affixing labels to bottles, boxes and otherarticles, the combination with a yielding label-table, of a frame forcarrying the article to be labeled, movable toward and from said table,clips pivoted to stationary parts of the apparatus and constructed tohold the labels upon said table, whereby said clips are permitted torelease said labels when the table is depressed, and devices connectedwith the table adapted to engage said clips and restore them to normalposition as the table rises, substantially as described.

8. In apparatus for aflixing labels to bottles, boxes and otherarticles, the combination with a label-table, of a frame for carryingthe article to be labeled, movable toward and from said table in a pathperpendicular to the said label-table, a counterbalance connected tosaid frame for restoring it to its normal position away from the table,a pasting device for said labels movable across the label-table andconnections between said pasting device and said frame, substantially asdescribed.

9. In apparatus for affixing labels to bottles, boxes and otherarticles, the combination with a yielding label-table, adapted to hold aplurality of superposed labels, said table being adjustable to supportlabels of different sizes, supports carried by said table and adjustablelaterally therewith, but mounted so as to be incapable of yieldinglongitudinally, clips pivoted to said supports and provided with devicesfor extending over the labels and holding them upon the table, wherebythe clips are permitted to release the labels, when the table isdepressed, and means for restoring said clips to their normal positionwhen the table rises, substantially as described.

10. In apparatus for aflixing labels to bottles, boxes and otherarticles, the combination with a yielding label-table adapted to hold aplurality of superposed labels, of a frame for carrying the article tobe labeled movable toward and from the label-table in a pathperpendicular thereto, a series of pins projecting from the face of thelabel-table and adapted to yield with a respect to the table,non-yielding supports extending through said table, clips pivotedthereto and provided with horizontal projections engaging said labelsand holding them upon the table, whereby said clips are permitted torelease said labels when the table is depressed and means for restoringsaid clips to their normal position as the table rises, substantially asdescribed.

11. In apparatus for aflixing labels to bottles, boxes and likearticles, the combination with a yielding table, of a frame for holdingthe article to be labeled, movable toward and from said table on a pathperpendicular thereto, said label-table being formed in sections,adjusting devices for said sections to vary the size of the label-table,a series of spring-actuated pins projecting from the face of the tablefor engaging the lateral edges of the labels,

independent devices for laterally adjusting.

said pins with respect to the table, vertical bination with a yieldinglabel-table, of a frame movable toward and from said table and adaptedto receive the article to be labeled, and laterally-arranged bearers,secured to stationary parts for pressing the edges of the labels againstthe article to be labeled, substantially as described.

WILLIAM HIGGINS. WILLIAM GEORGE EDMONDS. IVitnesses:

JAMES Fox, RUFUS WATERMAN.

